Is Montgomeryshire about to be shafted?

Montgomeryshire appears to be on the verge of absorbing more mass windfarm development following a leaked report about the outcome of the recently held year-long public inquiry.

Last month it was announced that the decision from the public inquiry would be delayed until after the general election, but local protesters are up in arms after The Sunday Telegraph reported information it said had come from an inside source.

It said that the plan to build a series of wind farms across a huge swathe of our unspoilt countryside has been given the green light.

The paper claims that the proposed turbines and almost 30 miles of pylons to connect them to the National Grid are so unpopular that Ed Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary and a Liberal Democrat MP, has refused to commit to a planning decision ahead of the general election.

According to sources, three of five giant Montgomeryshire wind farms have been agreed but will need rubber-stamping by the incoming secretary of state.

A planning inspector has recommended permission be given for the wind farms. They each consist of between 17 and 65 turbines up to 450ft tall – equivalent to the height of the London Eye. In all, almost 200 could be built in the coming years, according to the paper.

The planning inquiry, which took almost a year and was held at The Royal Oak, was completed in May 2014 and a report with recommendations was delivered to Mr Davey, who has the final say in the projects, at the beginning of December.

But a spokesman at the Department of Energy and Climate Change said Mr Davey had “relinquished making any decision” and instead left it to his successor after the general election in May.

The source told The Sunday Telegraph that the decision was not announced because the wind farms will impact the hopes that the Liberal Democrats had of regaining Montgomeryshire from the Conservatives in May.

The news has shocked local campaigners with Glyn Davies, the current Tory MP for the area, saying: “I would be shocked if the Secretary of State, or anyone else at DECC, were to have 'leaked' to The Sunday Telegraph any decision on the Public Inquiry

"I'm not in a position to confirm the accuracy or otherwise of the report. It would be most improper. This is about the future of Mid Wales, not some grubby political game.

“The overall scheme is financial and environmental madness. It should be abandoned.”